Feed-water heater



(No Model.)

A. RODGERS.

FEED WATER HEATER. No. 316,182. Patented Apr. 21, 1885.

WITNESSES ZJVV'EJVTOVR W M @WW fl ttorney ALEXANDER RODGERS, OF MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN.

FEED-WATER H EATER.

E'aPECIFICATIQN forming part. of Letters Patent No. 316,182, dated April 21, 1885. Application filedSeptemberlO, 188 i. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER RODGERS,

a. citizen of the United States, residing at Muskegon, in the county of Muskegon and.

State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Feedater Heaters for Steam-Boilers, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of feed-water heaters used in 'con-' boilers side by side in the same arch. The

grates are placed beneath one end, and the products of combustion,after passing a bridgewall which comes up nearly to the bottom of the boilers, pass under them to their rear ends, where they are met by the rear wall of the arch, placed a short distance back of the rear end of the boilers. By this wall they are turned upward and enter. the flues or tubes of the boilers, by which they are brought for ward to the front of the boilers again, and pass thence to the smoke-stack. A difficulty has been experienced in boilers set in this way in keeping the space between the rear wall of the arch and the rear end of the boilers properly covered, as the expansion and contraction of the boilers soon break up a fire-brick arch, or the large bricks reaching from the wall to the boiler sometimes employed. Another device employed for covering this space consists of cast-iron plates secured at one side to the boilers, and the other resting loosely upon the top of the wall, so as to slide back and forth as the boilers are lengthened or shortened under the influence of heat; but these plates are defective from the fact that the intense heat to which they are exposed soon cracks and de stroys them. To find a remedyfor this trouble is one of the objects of my invention. 7 Another is to save the heat which has hitherto been worse than wasted in destroying these plates or other coverings of the space between the boilers and arch by causing it to assist in heating the feed-water which enters the boilers; and a further object is to increase the efficieney of the feed-water heater by a novel construction which enables'it to thoroughly filter the water passing through it, and re lieves it from the injurious jar of the feedpump or other feeding apparatus.

My invention therefore consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts with relation to the boilers of a feed-water heater,

as will be hereinafter fully set forth, andthen specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a rear elevation of the boilers and arch, the back wall being removed and the feed-water heaters shown in longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a plan of the rear portion of a set of boilers, the arch and feed-water heater, showing their relative arrangement. Fig. 3

is a side elevation, the side wall of the arch being removed, showing a side of one of the boilers, one end of the feed-water heater and mud-drum, with their connections. Fig. 4 shows one of the perforated diaphragrns of the feed-water heater upon an enlarged scale.

The boilers in these drawings are indicated by A A, and may be of the common two-flue variety, (shown as having return-tubes instead of the flues,) the improved feed-water heaters being adapted for use with any boiler having its grates placed below and returning the products of combustion through fines or tubes.

B B are the side walls of the boiler-arch, and B the rear wall.

0 is a mud-drum placed transversely across the arch beneath the boilers and connected with each of them by a short pipe or connection, a.

D is the drum forming the outer portion of the heater,placed transversely across the arch in the rear of the boilers, its ends resting on the side walls and partially supported by the rear wall, as shown in Fig. 3, its bottom and front sides covering the space between the wall and rear end of the boilers abovetheflues, except a narrow space left between the boiler ends and the heater to allow the necessary movement of the boilers as they expand or contract. This space may be covered by a brick, as shown at 1). Through this heater from end to end passes the exhaust-pipe E of an engine, as F. This exhaust-pipe preferably passes through the heater above its axial line, and is provided at its outlet with suitable connections for carrying the exhauststeam to the smoke-stack or delivering it into the open air, as may be desired. At suitable distances from each other within the heater are placed the perforated diaphragms c c, inclosing a space or chamber, G, between them, to which access is obtained through the handhole'd in the top of the heater. This chamber G is filled with hay or other suitable material, which not only filters the water, but, in the case of water impregnated with lime or other mineral matters, in conjunction with the the heater from the shocks of the feed-pump,

been constructed in which the direct heat from i the products of combustion as well as the heat from the exhaust-steam has been employed to heat the feed water, and do not therefore broadly claim such a combination; but

What I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A feed-water heater consisting of a horizontally-placed cylindrical drum extending across the boiler-arch in the rear of the boilers, and covering the space between the ends of said boilers and the back wall of the arch, said drum containing apassage for the exhauststeam, chambersHand H, and filtering-chamber G and airchamber I, all arranged for joint operation in the manner described.

v2. In a feed-water heater, the combination of the drum D, containing chambers H H, and filtering-chamber G, with the aircham ber I and exhaust-pipe E, all arranged for joint operation in the manner described.

3. The combination, with an engine, aboiler or boilers, and a boiler-arch, of a feed-water-heating drum, D,placed horizontally across and closing the space between the rear ends of the boilers and the back wall of the boilerarch, and an exhaust-pipe, E, that leads from the engine and passes through said drum, whereby the feed-water is heated by exhauststeam and by direct action of the fire, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, ALEXANDER RODGERS.

Witnesses:

DAVID MoLAUGnLIN, WM. A. MOLAUGHLIN. 

